


An Occult Library, A Portal To Hell, And Other Things Found In The Basement

by Rikaleeta



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Demon AU, Phic Phight, monster au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-02-04 11:49:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18603943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rikaleeta/pseuds/Rikaleeta
Summary: AU where all the ghosts are demons/monsters, and Danny is half demon. Prompt By the-trash-prince.





	1. All Hell Broke Loose

**Author's Note:**

> Danny's parents are demon hunters, which is already enough for Danny to think they're crazy. But then, they somehow think a portal to Hell in their basement is a good idea.

When Danny’s parents announced they were going to build a portal to Hell in their basement, he thought they’d finally lost what was left of their marbles.

 

He and Jazz had always known they were into the occult.  It was kind of hard to miss, with all the decorative pentagrams and protective symbols all over the house. He never saw his mom without her black tourmaline necklace. Apparently the stone was supposed to repel evil spirits and demons. He suspected she showered in it.

 

Not that his father was much better. He got some kind of online education to be a priest, for the sole purpose of making holy water. (It was in everything his parents cooked.) He and his mother were constantly in the basement, which had turned into a sort of occult library, practicing which symbols could be drawn quickly for protection, and integrating others into weaponry.

 

As unsure as Danny was about the existence of demons and monsters, he really wasn’t comfortable with his parent’s endeavors. After all, if they did exist, why give them an open invitation into their basement?

 

The answer, according to Danny’s mom, was demon hunting. Their goal was to eliminate as many demons as they could, and with a portal to Hell, they would have easy access to them. They wouldn’t be able to escape. 

 

Which only served to solidify Danny’s theory. His parents had gone completely batshit  _ insane.  _ Not only did they want  _ literal demons  _ to have access to their basement (if they actually existed- Danny still wasn’t sure) and they thought they could march through the gates of Hell, guns blazing, and not die within seconds. 

 

Danny prayed to any gods that existed to protect his parents from their own stupidity. 

 

After all, this was Hell they were talking about. Actual, literal Hell. Fire and brimstone, torture for all eternity, soul damned to the depths of Tartarus Hell. He wanted to bang his head against something. While his opinion on the existence of Hell was about as solid as his one on demons, he really didn’t want to be messing around with it should it actually be there.

 

Of course, Sam was ecstatic at the thought. She had taken to his parents right away because of their shared interest. However, they drifted apart almost as quickly. While Sam  _ loved  _ the prospect of monsters and demons and hell and the occult, she didn’t want to go messing around with it, much less aim to  _ kill  _ demons. She thought that was better left to Hades, or so she said. 

 

Tucker was interested for other reasons. He thought all the stuff about demons was a bunch of hooey, but he wanted to see if an interdimensional portal was actually possible to build. 

 

So a couple months and a lot of headbanging later, Danny found himself in the basement with the non functional portal. Tucker actually looked more upset about its lack of functionality than Sam did. “It would have been so  _ cool  _ to see the first interdimensional portal.”

 

Sam rolled her eyes, Polaroid camera in her hands. “Hey Danny, can I get a picture of you in front of the portal?” She gestured to the yawning hole in the wall, five feet above the ground, with an intricately woven pentagram above it. Metal claws reached into the mouth, like they kept it open. Danny suspected they would have kept the portal open, had the machine worked. Candles were wedged onto pegs around the pentagram, parallel to the floor, flickering in the dim light of the basement.

 

All in all, it was every goth’s dream.

 

Of course, Danny indulged her. It was a poorly kept secret that he’d do anything for her and Tuck. So he walked over in front of the gaping black hole, trying to smile. It was hard to when his parents had made him don this ridiculous black robe. 

 

Sam scrunched up her face, looking into the camera. “What if you sat on the ledge? You’re so short I can barely fit you  _ and  _ the portal in the shot.” Danny stuck his tongue out at her, hopping up and scooting onto the ledge. He let himself lean back on his hands, and heard the distinctive  _ click  _ of a picture being taken. 

 

He was about to hop off when Sam spoke again. “What if… you went deeper in? I could take a picture, you could tell us what it’s like in there. You’re the only one your parents would let get that close.”   
  


Danny sent her a withering glare. “For good reason. It could be dangerous.” But Sam looked at her with those puppy dog eyes, and Tucker had joined her now. He sighed.  _ “Fine.”  _

 

He turned around, making his was to the back of the portal. All in all, it was pretty normal. No wire sticking out. Either they were safely tucked in the walls of the machine or his parents had deemed them unnecessary, thinkin magic would do the work. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. 

 

When he reached the back of the portal, he turned around. “It’s pretty normal in here guys. ‘Couple sharp edges, but there’s no wires. Nothing really to note.”

 

He heard a disappointed sigh, probably from Tucker, and another camera  _ click.  _ “Well, I’ve got my picture, so you can come on out, I guess.” Danny heaved a sigh of relief, moving to take the ten steps that would let him out. He didn’t know why, but the hair on his arms was starting to raise. His instincts just wanted him  _ out.  _

 

Danny had barely taken two steps when his foot caught on the stupid robe. He internally cursed his parents, his arms flailing out to find purchase to save him from his fall. They found none. They did, however, find a sharp edge, which cut his arm. He hardly noticed the blood drip off it as he fell to his knees. 

 

A snort came from outside the portal. “Easy there, grace.” Sam called sarcastically. Danny rolled his eyes, moving to get up. 

 

And then everything was on fire. 

 

Green and red and orange and blue swirled around him, and it felt like his limbs were being torn apart, fiber by fiber. Everything  _ burned.  _ Everything felt like there was an electric current running through it. He heard screaming, and distantly realised it was his own. His tears didn’t even get a chance to fall. They evaporated along with all the other moisture in his eyes, mouth, and throat in the blazing heat of the fire and lightning. 

 

And then it stopped. The burning, the screaming, the shocking. The smell of burnt flesh permeated the air, sickly sweet. Sam and Tucker almost passed out right there.

 

But Sam was already looking for something. She found a book on the table, most likely one of the ones the Fentons had used for research, and seized it, tearing through the book so fast in her search that a couple pages fluttered to the ground. Finally, she stopped, that sick feeling back with a vengeance, and clapped her hand over her mouth. “Oh, gods…” 

 

Tucker looked over, panicking even more. “What is it?”

 

She shoved the book at him wordlessly, her finger tapping the page. Tucker didn’t even need to read it. Two words stood out to him, glaringly obvious, and he couldn’t have read the rest of the page if he’d tried. Not with what he’d just seen. 

 

Just two words, and his world felt like he’d been duct taped to a tilt-a-whirl.

 

_ Human sacrifice.  _

 

Tucker leaned over and retched on the basement floor.

 

Sam was trying to read the rest of the page. She looked ashen. “There’s no way they could have known this, right? You don’t think they tried to sacrifice someone... they couldn’t have. They’re the Fentons. They’re eccentric, but they’re not murderers…  _ right?”  _ They question hung in the air, thick like fog. And then noise came from the portal, and it felt like the fog thickened.

 

The opening, which had been calmly swirling with reds and oranges, gained a crackling green along the edges. Verdant lightning sparked through the other, more fiery colors. A hand sliced itself through the middle, sharp and clawed. Sam and Tucker scuttled back, wide- eyed, as the figure toppled to the floor. 

 

Tucker and Sam felt their hearts drop into the floor. “Danny?” Neither of them knew who said it. 

 

Regardless, the figure on the floor looked up with catlike green eyes. Their irises were too large, their pupils were slits. They were far too green for any human. Their skin, while it could pass as human, was pale as porcelain. Though it wasn’t as white as their hair, even with its raven tips. Twin horns poked out of the messy hair. Batlike wings erupted from their back, and  tail laid curled on the floor.

 

Even with all the changes, Sam knew. She swallowed the lump in her throat and repeated, “Danny?”

 

He stood shakily, giving them an odd look. Or at least they thought it was an odd look. It was hard to tell under the lamplike effect of his eyes. “Why are you guys looking at me like that? I mean, it hurt, but I’m fine now, promise.” His voice was scratchy, probably from the screaming, and when he spoke, Sam and Tuck could see fangs poking out of his gums where his canines had been. 

 

“You… you might want to look in a mirror, Danny.” For once in his life, Tucker was short and to the point. No rambling or anything. It concerned Danny. He looked around the basement. He knew his parents kept one down here  _ somewhere.  _ Something about some kind of demon being unable to look away from their reflection. 

 

There was a glint of light in the corner, and Danny walked over to it. Wedged in between a bookshelf and the wall was the full- length mirror. He pulled it out with relative ease, which confused him. It had looked pretty stuck. He shrugged it off, going to set it down. He almost dropped it when he saw what was looking back. 

 

Danny stared in wide- eyed terror at his reflection before he spoke. “This is a joke, right? Is that what’s happening?” He watched Sam and Tucker in the reflection as they solemnly shook their heads. “I-I can’t be a demon. I  _ can’t.  _ My parents  _ hunt  _ demons!”   
  


“Danny, it’s gonna be fine-”   
  


“My parents cook with  _ holy water,  _ Tucker!” His tail swished back and forth in agitation. His wings had curled around his arms protectively. Sam doubted he’d noticed. She pushed past Tuck and laid her hands gently on his shoulders. 

 

“No, it  _ is  _ going to be alright, ok? We can get you contacts. We can get you a wig. I can bring you something you can eat for dinner to school. Your tail, you can hide in your pants. Your wings? ...you can start wearing oversized jackets.”

 

“If it helps, it seems demon’s wings don’t really obey the Law of Conservation of Matter.” Tucker stated from the table. Sam wasn’t sure he was using the term right. He had a book open, and he turned it around to show them a diagram. “See, when they’re open, your wingspan is large enough to support flight. When they’re tucked up, like they are now, they get smaller. Easier to hide.”

 

Danny still looked panicked, but he was trying to breathe steadily. “Sam, where am I going to get contacts on such short notice? Those are expensive. And I could get a costume wig online, but those aren’t exactly realistic. I can’t ask you to-”

 

Sam clapped a hand over his mouth. “Danny, shut up. You didn’t ask. I can handle it.” She glanced at the clock. “If we hurry, we can leave before your parents get back from the store or wherever they went. I’ll take you to my house. We’ll go from there.” Danny nodded beneath her hand, and she removed it. “Tell your parents you’re sleeping over. I’m good, but I’m not good enough to get what you need by the end of the day.”

 

Danny sighed, running his fingers through his hair and going to scratch the back of his neck. He jumped and winced, looking at his hand. Or, more specifically, his claws. Before he could start panicking again, Sam grabbed it and rushed him out of the basement. 

 

The walk over was surprisingly uneventful. Danny walked between his two friends, eyes down. He’d been wearing a jacket under the robe- which had mysteriously disappeared, though his clothes remained- and he pulled the hood over his head. He kept his tail as still as he could near his leg, and his wings stayed firmly where they were. He wasn’t really even sure how to move them.

 

When they turned into the richest neighborhood in Amity Park, Tucker and Danny’s faces both colored with surprise. And then they  _ kept  _ walking, to the back of the neighborhood, where all the richest of the rich lived. They came to a stop in front of a large gated mansion. Tucker and Danny couldn’t keep their mouths shut. They hung open in shock.

 

“Shut your mouth, Danny. You’re showing your fangs to the whole street.”   
  


“My  _ what?” _

 

Sam rolled her eyes and went through the gate. Danny and Tucker were quick to follow. She led the way up to her room, not bothering to tell her mother that her friends were with her. She’d figure it out later, when at least Danny came down to dinner. No  _ way  _ was she letting him stay hungry in her room. 

 

She opened her door, swinging her bag off her shoulder and immediately digging her laptop out. The boys stood in the doorway awkwardly, not really sure what to do with themselves. She looked up at them, sighing. “Yeah, I’m rich. Didn’t really want to tell you before I knew you, cuz, you know. I didn’t want you to…” she drifted off. They could figure out she wasn’t fond of fair weather friends without her saying it and talking about her feelings. Few things rivaled her hatred of that. “I really wasn’t even going to tell you until later, to be honest. But,” she gestured at Danny, “he needs help. And money. Both of which I can provide.”

 

Already clicking onto her mother’s favorite cosmetics website, she gestured for the two to sit down.  This was where her mother got her colored contacts, and from what she had said when she first got them, they were good ones. Her mouse hovered over the quantity button, and she looked up and studied Danny for a minute. He squirmed at her stare. “What?”

 

“Just trying to figure out if your eyes’ll melt the contacts.”

 

_ “What?”  _ She shrugged, returning to the page. Five should be good for now, she hoped. If they  _ did  _ melt in his eyes- Sam wasn’t sure if the liquid in them was the same as a human’s anymore- then at least he had backups, if the deterioration was slow. If they held up, well, contacts were supposed to be changed out every few months anyway. 

 

She moved on to trying to find a wig. None quite matched his normal scruffy cut. Maybe she could get a longer one and style it? She clicked on one that looked like it would work and added that to the cart, too. After the order was put through, she snapped her laptop shut and looked up. “Ok, time to deal with the other stuff.”

 

The first and easiest thing on the list was the claws. Sam grabbed the nail clippers from the bathroom. She tossed them to Danny, grabbing the wastepaper basket from next to her desk. “Don’t get nail clippings on the floor, please.” 

 

The tail, like she’d told Danny earlier, could be tucked into his pants. He could cover his ears with his wig hair, if Sam cut it right. That would also take care of the horns, which were thankfully pretty small. The big problem was really his wings. Sam, not quite sure if a bulky jacket would actually cover them, dug one such jacket out of the back of her closet. She had a time period where she loved them, so there were about a dozen or so shoved in the back of her closet. It hadn’t been that long ago, and neither Danny nor her had grown since then, and Danny wasn’t that much larger than her. Hopefully it would fit. 

 

She grabbed a random one, a dark purple, and chucked it at Danny. He jumped when it draped itself over his head. Pausing with clipping his nails, he pulled it off. “What’s this?”

 

“Bulky jacket, remember? I’m hoping that’ll cover your wings.” As she spoke, she grabbed the rest and dumped them on the bed. There were a couple more purple ones, a few green, and one red. The rest were black. 

 

Danny finished clipping his nails and the shuffling of fabric signified him putting on the jacket. “What do you think?”

 

Sam turned around and let out a sigh of relief. The jacket worked better than she thought it would. His nails didn’t end in clawed tips anymore. He had already tucked his tail into his jeans. Ignoring his eyes and horns, he looked normal.  She told him as much, and he sagged with relief.

 

A thought came to her. “Shit. We can’t go down for dinner. My parents may be oblivious, but they’re not  _ that  _ bad.” She sighed, walking to the door. “I’ll tell the cook I’m eating in my room with you two tonight.” Tucker and Danny nodded at her as the door shut. 

Danny sighed, sinking into the bean bag chair he’d taken up residence in. He was tired. He just wanted to sleep. But the anxiety clawing at his gut barely let him close his eyes. His parents… his parents would hate him, if they knew. 

 

And what if they made him take off his jacket? The words  _ take off your coat, stay a while!  _ rang in his head. That would be bad. He just wanted the floor to open up and swallow him. At least then he wouldn’t have to deal with his parents, and their house that was now dangerous to him at every corner. 

 

“So, we still on for going to see a movie this weekend?” Tucker’s voice snapped him out of his spiralling thoughts. He smiled, making sure to keep his lips closed. (Better start practicing that now.) Tuck may not be good with words or talking about emotions, but Danny could always count on his best friend to help lighted the mood. 

 

“Definitely, man.” 

 

Danny looked up at the ceiling. If he was going to have to go through this, at least he had his two friends by his side while he did.


	2. Living Hell- part one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Demons begin to come through the Portal, including a strange demon who coaxes students with poisons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I had to divide this in two! I really wanted to get a little more done in time for the Phic Phight, but I couldn't finish the chapter tonight. I'm just too tired. So I'll try to post part two tomorrow or the next day ^^

The wig and contacts thankfully came in the next day. The portal accident had been on Saturday, so that Sunday was spent trying on the contacts and cutting the wig. Thankfully, the contacts didn’t melt, thought the blue was slightly off from its earlier color. 

Danny’s parents hardly noticed when he came back Sunday night. They were down in the library, tinkering with something or reading books. Preparing for their first expedition into Hell. Danny only sighed and tried not to bang his head against something. 

That week passed by an a blur. Danny discovered that most of his senses had become more, well, sensitive. He could hear things three classrooms away without even trying. He had to put effort into listening to his own teacher and not one of the others. He could see all the details of the marker on the board. Where the white poked through the pigment, the streaks in the ink, also without trying. It was distracting and frustrating. 

His tail took some getting used to. If he wasn’t careful, he’d sit on it. His wings weren’t much better. He’d actually figured out how to move them, and now it was maddening trying to get them to stay completely still every day. It was a relief to get home every day and lock the door, letting himself stretch them for a while. 

His parents also barely noticed him not eating his food. He’d tried the tiniest bit Sunday night, to see if it would actually be an issue. Of course it was- it burned as soon as it came in contact with his tongue. Danny wondered what he’d do if his parents started noticing his lack of eating. He certainly couldn’t ingest this- not with the Holy Water his dad put in.

Jazz wasn’t so oblivious, though. She almost caught him one night when he was eating the dinner Sam had packed for him. Her dinners were all vegan, but surprisingly good.

She would have barged in without knocking had Danny not locked the door. As it was, he barely had time to shove the tupperware container in his desk drawer before he was banging on the door. “Danny? Why is your door locked? Let me in!”

With an exasperated sigh, Danny opened his door.  “What?” Was he being short? Yes. But he was hungry, his entire body felt cooped up from hiding under all the clothes, and he had homework. Needless to say, he was not in the best mood. 

She raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. “Geez, Danny, no need to snap. I knocked.”

Danny gave her a flat look. “Would you have knocked if the door was unlocked?”

Jazz sighed, seeming to decide to avoid the question. “Are you ok, Danny? You haven’t been eating since you came back Sunday.” Her eyes widened in realization. “I haven’t seen you eat since before the Portal turned on. Danny, were you down there when it turned on?”

“Look, I’m fine, ok?” Jazz wasn’t the only one who could dodge questions. “I just haven't been very hungry. I eat plenty at school, promise.”   
  
“Danny, this lack of appetite could be caused by-”

“I have homework, Jazz. Besides, like I said, I’m fine.” He shut the door in her face, turning to lean on it and sighing. He would probably regret that later.

But the regret didn’t seem to be coming. In fact, the only problem came up was when his mother gave him a hug and kiss good night on Thursday. He was happy at first- affectionate though his mother was, she’d been too absent with projects to pay much attention to him and Jazz. He’d never tell anyone how disappointed he was to not be able to remember his mom’s last hug.

But the second she touched him, Danny felt every muscle in his body lock up. Pain screamed through his muscles. When her lips touched his forehead, it felt like his flesh was being melted off his bones. His blood boiled, literally boiled in his veins. Sweet relief only came when she pulled back a bit, and only slightly.

“You alright, sweetie?” His mom asked, looking in his eyes. Still touching him. “You haven’t hugged me this tightly in years.” Danny managed to nod, and coolness spread over him like a relaxing spring tide when she finally retracted her arms. 

Danny never forgot that black tourmaline again. 

 

\-------------------

 

That weekend, he stayed at Tucker’s. Danny decided Mrs Foley was an excellent cook. The fact that she didn’t use Holy Water was a nice bonus, too. 

When they weren’t at the table that Saturday, they locked themselves in Tucker’s room and played Mario Kart and Doomed, as per tradition. Tucker didn’t so much as blink when Danny pulled his jacket off and let his wings stretch out, even with the more recent development of the bones in between the webbing turning white. Danny appreciated Tucker’s lack of a comment on it, especially since he hadn’t shown Tuck his wings since they parted last weekend.

It would have been a perfectly normal weekend had Jazz not mentioned that Danny may have been in the basement when the Portal opened. The news, of course, prompted Danny’s parents to have a sort of seminar on safety around demons. Only it was presented only to Danny and his friends. And also Danny’s dad was the only presenter. 

Danny was focused on wanting the floor to open up and swallow him whole while his father rambled on about how “demons were a concentration of mana and humanlike organs, formed around a malevolent purpose. Whether that be to feed or experience pleasure or inflict misery.” The hallmark of the speech seemed to be that all demons, no matter what, were evil. Danny didn’t want to think of what that meant for him. 

“Never forget, kids, a demon’ll never miss a chance to deceive ya.” Danny wanted to sink into the floor at his father’s comment. He could feel himself hanging on the edge of an existential crisis. 

And then, beyond Danny’s father, the portal rippled like a veil being blown in the wind of a passerby. Danny felt that  _ zap  _ he got from a too- staticky chair or something when he went to touch it, but all over her body. Out the corners of his eyes, he could see a couple of flickers of green lightning ghost over the fabric of his jacket. If his friends noticed, they didn’t say anything.

They, did, however, notice the ever- quickening of the ripples spreading from the middle of the Portal. Sam’s hand shot in the air, and Mr Fenton cheerfully nodded at her to ask her question. “But what about demons in control of neutral things, like time? Do you have a book or something I could read on those?”

His entire face lit up. “As a matter of fact, I do! O’couse, they’re all evil. But I have some fascinatin’ readin’ material!” Faster than it seemed possible for a man of his stature, he dashed off down an isle of books. 

Danny leapt to his feet as the figure finally pushed through the veil. It was all inky dripping fur and glistening white teeth. It seemed to be smiling, to stare right through them. No one was quite sure where the inky blackness went once it separated from the body, but at least it didn’t get on the lab floor. 

And then it stepped to the side, and another followed the first into the basement.

Sam’s breath caught in her throat. “Hellhounds.” She whispered. 

They both stood there, sniffing the air, until one of them caught sight of Danny.  _  “What are you doing here, child?  _ It asked. It felt to Danny like the voice was inside his mind. He squirmed uncomfortably. 

“You guys hearing this?” He asked his friends. They only answered with bewildered stares.

The second hellhound was standing up off its haunches, narrowing its eyes at Danny, trying to figure him out. To Danny it looked threatening.  _ Lord Hades did not give permission for you to enter this realm.  _ A pause.  _ Did he? I don’t remember him saying anything about a- _

_ Quiet, Maenthrall.  _ The first cut its partner off with a snarl.  _ Not with  _ these  _ humans around. _

For the first time, the second hellhound, Maenthrall, seemed to look around. Its eyes widened.  _ So they succeeded in building their portal.  _

The first was lowering itself to the ground. _ Then that makes you- _

_ An abomination.  _ Maenthrall finished. It flung itself at Danny, who turned and blocked his face with his hand by accident. He felt his wings strain against his jacket, nearly ripping it. With a curse, he stumbled back over his stupid metal chair and flung off the offending fabric before he could ruin it.

_ So not only do you claim Demonhood in such an abhorrent way, you hide it?!  _ The first gnashed its teeth in anger. 

_ Easy, Tulral.  _ The second glared at Danny coolly.  _ Lord Hades will want him alive for interrogation.  _

Danny tried not to gulp. As it was, he could feel his ears pinning in fear.  _ What a great time to figure out I can do that. _

_ So you  _ can  _ mind speak, abomination.  _ Maenthrall snarled.  _ Why did you do it? Human life not good enough for you? _

Danny scrambled back more as the hounds advanced.  _ I didn’t want this! It was an accident! Why would I want to be a demon when my parents literally hunt them!  _ He tried to send the thoughts the same place his others had unintentionally gone. It seemed to work, but only to anger them. 

_ Lies!  _ It was Tulral’s throaty growl again. He spared Maenthrall a glance.  _ You don’t want to hurt  _ him?  _ Fine. But he still deserves to suffer.  _ He swivelled toward Sam, leaping toward her. 

Danny barely suppressed a cry. His couldn’t alert his father and have him come running. Not with his wings out in the opening. He didn’t know how his father had remained oblivious thus far.

As it was, Danny leapt toward the hound without thinking. He landed on its back, clasped his arms around its stomach, tucked his wings, and rolled away. 

He staggered to his feet, spreading them for a more steady stance as he positioned himself in front of Sam and Tucker. He spread his wings out to block them. He saw his wig out the corner of his eye- it must have fallen off. 

With a growl, one of the wolves leapt at Danny. He’d lost track of which was which. His foot snapped out to kick it in the mouth- Danny thanked the gods his mother had thought to teach him basic martial arts. He’d consider asking her to continue the lessons if not for the black tourmaline she always wore. 

The other one tried to go around Danny to get to his friends- Maenthrall, Danny assumed. Danny manged to smack him in the face with a wing. 

Danny did manage to hold back the hellhounds, but he was losing stamina quickly and even his father would be back anytime. Meaning his was running out of it. 

He hadn’t even noticed Sam creeping around to one of his parents’ invention tables. Neither, it seemed, had the hellhounds. “Danny!” She whisper shouted. Of course it drew all of their attention, but Sam threw something at him anyway. It almost looked like a small metal pocket flashlight. “Push the button and hit em with it!” 

Danny managed to catch the device. He fumbled with the button on one end, almost dropping it when a reddish light came out the other end. It thrummed with so much energy, and it felt somehow familiar, it almost called him- 

With a shake of his head to rouse himself from his stupor, Danny rounded the beam on the hounds. As soon as it hit them, they seemed to dissolve into purplish black smoke. It curled toward the Portal, where it was swept up by the swirling red and yellow. 

Danny pushed the button again to turn the beam off. “What was that?” He asked in mild horror.

“Your dad was rambling about it before you got here. It’s supposed to be a sort of transporter, I think. Only works on demons, takes them back to whatever part of hell they came from.” Sam tried to look disinterested as she picked up Danny’s jacket and wig to bring over to him, but a slight quaver in her voice gave her away. 

Just as he pulled on his wig, laughter broke free from Danny. He couldn’t help it. It was almost crazed. Tucker and Sam weren’t far behind in his laughter. 

Mr Fenton came back with a book and a bewildered look. “What’d I miss?”

 

\--------------------------

 

A month came and went, all in a blur. Danny was starting to get used to his heightened senses. He even found them quite useful in some cases- like, for example, avoiding Dash.

Jazz cornered him a couple more times about eating, but had taken up cooking most nights. She seemed to have noticed he ate when she cooked, and he ate her food because she didn’t put Holy Water in it. It was a good system, and if Danny didn’t eat Sam’s food for dinner, he ate it for lunch the next day, much to he delight. She told him she’d much rather eat his sister’s food for dinner and hers for lunch- much healthier that way, or so she said.

Speak of the devil, Sam was waiting for him and Tuck as they unboarded their busses and approached the school. She was positively beaming. Tucker told her he found it creepy, which earned him a punch. 

“So,” Danny said carefully, stepping just out of range of her fists, “what’s got you so happy?”

“Oh, don’t be such a wuss. I’m not gonna punch you, you’re part of the reason.” At Danny’s arched eyebrow, she continued. “Well, sorta. You inspired me, bringing my healthy food to school. It gave me an idea, so I talked to the principal- and now every Wednesday we’re having vegan hot lunches! I’m hoping by the end of the year, we can get more days, but for now, it’s a huge improvement.” She looked happy- or at least, as happy as Sam could look. 

Tucker, however, looked absolutely horrified. Sam continued as if she didn’t notice.  _ “And,  _ to promote it, we’re eating Ultra Recyclo- Vegetarian all this week!” 

Danny arched an eyebrow. “Wow, how’d you manage to convince Principal Ishiyama to take to this?”

Sam scratched her cheek, looking at the ceiling. “Well, I had  _ some  _ help.” Danny chuckled, bumping her arm. 

“I’m proud of you, Sam.”

 

\------------------------

 

Sam’s good mood had been spoiled by lunch. 

She sat at the table, fuming, as most of the student body sent dirty looks her way. Many of them had decided to forgo lunch rather than try to stomach whatever they were serving. Danny couldn’t really blame them. Even he, who’d been eating Sam’s food the past month, thought this was a bit extreme. At least, it was more extreme than what she’d fed him.

“I was working you up to it.” She fumed. 

All at once, Danny felt that full body static shock. The one that had run over his body when the hellhounds had appeared. His friends recognized the jolt Danny did in his seat, and joined them in looking around for the dripping black dogs. 

“I swear, she’s trying to feed us  _ poison.”  _ Danny saw a couple football players out the corner of his eye, both of which were looking pointedly at Sam as they passed. He tried to ignore them and continue looking for the dogs.

“Did you say poison, dearie?” Danny jumped at the new voice. It hadn’t been there before. He looked up and saw a pleasantly smiling older lady blocking the football player’s way. Well, it would have been pleasant if her teeth weren’t sharp as daggers, and her eyes weren’t yellow and slitted like a snakes, or her skin wasn’t a sickly green.

Her smile grew, sweet as a grandmother’s, deadly as a lion’s. “You want  _ poison,  _ dear? Why don’t you try my muffins?” Danny had no idea where she’d produced them from, only that they smelled very  _ not good. _ Not in the sense that they wouldn’t taste good- they smelled delicious in that respect. But there was something off. Danny managed to connect the way her sugary sweet voice coaxed out the word poison. His eyes widened and he jumped to his feet, barely managing to round the table and knock the muffin plate from the plump old lady’s hand.

“It’s a figure of speech. You get those in the overworld.” He told her coldly. It was meant to out her to the rest of the students. Instead, her eyes widened in glee. 

“Oh,  _ you’re  _ the one Hades sent me to get! My, my, I know he told me that you wouldn’t be fed properly up here, but just look at you- you’re skin and bones!”

Danny nearly felt his heart stop before he realized literally no one else was paying attention. He calmed the frantic beating and leveled his gaze with her. “Yeah, well, I’m not going. So go tell Hades to leave me alone.”

The demon smiled. “Oh, honey, you really don’t get much of a choice. You see-” only now did the screaming of the rest of the students and the glowing produce behind the demon register to Danny- “he told me to bring you back by any means necessary. The only qualifier he was looking for was  _ alive.”  _

Danny scrambled back as a heap of apples beaned the floor where he’d been. They actually managed to crack the tile. Seeing that she had more fruit, Danny grabbed Sam and Tucker and ran.

He bit his lip as he dragged them out. In a way, he was responsible for the demon- the Lunch Lady, he decided, since she’d interrupted lunch and all- being here. Though he hadn’t built the portal, he had been the one to activate it, and he’d been the one to force the hellhounds back through. He cursed under his breath. He already knew what he was going to do. He already regretted it, too. 

He veered left, bee lining for his locker. Thankfully, no one had turned into this hallway- everyone had bolted for the nearest exit. He tore off his wig, and his jacket, fiddling with his waistband to let his tail escape. Just in case anyone saw him. Fighting.

He skidded to a halt in front of his locker. “Sam, my locker combo is 37-15-8. I need you to reach into the very front pocket of my backpack and hand me what’s there.” He was trying to get his contacts out- not an easy feat when he had no mirror. He fished the case with the spares out of his pocket when he got the first one out- he always kept it, just in case. He plopped the contact in on top of one of the ones already in the case, already going after the one in his other eye, putting that one in the case, too. Not ideal, but it would do for now. 

He chucked the case into his still- open backpack, slamming his locker shut and grabbing the device from Sam. She looked at him, wide- eyed. “You… you’re not actually thinking of fighting her, are you?”

He gave her a grim look, and before he spoke, she had her answer. “I have to, Sam. My parents won’t even get here for fifteen minutes, at  _ best,  _ and we don’t know if anything they have will even work.”

Sam nodded in agreement, and Tuck clapped him on the shoulder. “You got this, man.” Tucker told him. Danny nodded in appreciation, turning and running back toward The Lunch Lady.

In an odd way, being free of his disguise, no matter the circumstances, was liberating. He could stretch out his wings as wide as he pleased, he could let his tail swish around in agitation and fear. His eyes didn’t itch from the contacts, the wig no longer tickled his ears. He let himself smile as he busted into the lunchroom. “Hey, lady!”

She had a couple students sitting at a lunch table with a dreamy look on their faces. There was a plate of steaming cookies in her hands. “Oh, there you are!” She dropped the tray to clap her hands, and it vanished into thin air. That seemed to break whatever spell was on the students, and they immediately leapt up and ran away. “My, my, so that’s what you really look like. You’re simply exquisite!”

Danny only arched an eyebrow. “Yeah, uh huh. Care to tell me why Hades wants me so bad or do you want to go back to Hell? I can always figure it out myself.”

The old lady merely chuckled. “Young boy, the only way I’m going back is with you. As for Hades’ reasoning, well, no one really knows that. He’s Hades! You don’t ask with him, you just  _ do.”  _ Danny resisted the urge to sigh and brandished the device- comically small, and he noticed it was labelled the  _ Fenton Flashlight.  _

He dashed right at her, turning on the flashlight and swinging it like a light saber. The Lunch Lady dodged. “Ooh, the Hounds told us about that! Lets you send a demon right back the the Underworld! Very convenient, isn’t it, like a portable portal?” Danny’s eyes narrowed.

“No,  _ not  _ like that, because as far as I know, no one grew horns and a tail for this.”

“Ooh, you’re sassy, too! Hades will like that, I think. The last one of us he called to his throne room acted like he was above all of us. Hades fixed that.” 

Danny rolled his eyes, aiming a kick for her sternum, which she dodged.

The door rattled, interrupting the fight. Danny swiveled around. His heart sunk to his shoes. 

His parents.

“Ah, it’s the hunters. I  _ really _ don’t want to get caught up with them. Well, ta-ta!” And with that, the lady was gone. 

Danny scrambled to escape the lunch room. He got outside and was running for home when he was yanked around a corner. He about broke whoever's nose it was when he saw it was just Sam and Tuck- with his stuff! He could have hugged them. In fact, he did. 

They pushed him off quickly, and Tuck helped him get the coat on around his wings while Sam pulled the wig over his hair. Sam shoved his contacts case and a small, purse- sized compact into his hands and he got his contacts in as fast as he could. Less than five minutes later, they were all on their way home. Well, to Danny’s house, anyway, but it might as well have been home for Sam or Tuck.

\-------------------

“How is this  _ my  _ fault?” Sam screeched.

Tucker clenched his fists. “If  _ you  _ hadn’t changed the menu-”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“The literal Lunch Lady from Hell wouldn’t have found us-”

“Yes, she would have!”

“Uh, guys?” Danny tried to interject. 

“I need my meat, Sam!”

_ “Why is your uncontrollable appetite connected to me luring a demon to the school?” _

“We should really make a plan-” Danny was once again cut off by Tucker.

“We all need meat, Sam! Plus, it was  _ your food  _ that made that football player say poi-”

“If you really think that word helped her find us, then don’t say it, you dumbass!”

“It  _ did!” _

“Well, you know what, if my diet is  _ so problematic,  _ why don’t you try to undo it?”

“You know what? I think I wil!” And with that, Tucker stalked out of his room. Sam sunk down on the floor next to the book she’d been scanning before the fight broke out. Danny arched an eyebrow at her. 

“At least everything will be back to how it was tomorrow?”

“Yeah. Right.” Sam agreed shortly, scanning the page. She found what she was looking for, putting the book in front of Danny and pointing to where he needed to read. “Here. This should help should you need to fight her again.” She packed up her stuff, preparing to leave. “I gotta go.”

As soon as she was gone, Danny sighed and started reading.

As it turned out, she was a fairly low- class demon  _ (great,  _ he thought,  _ if I struggled that much to fight her, how am I gonna fight anyone higher ranking that comes along?)  _ that specialized in poisons. She had telekinetic abilities over ingredients she could use in said poisons, and the foods she baked with them were supposedly irresistible to humans. 

He sighed. Hopefully the next time they fought he’d have more luck. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that we're at the end of the chapter, I wanted to say- I do 100% plan on continuing this phic! I had a great time starting it tonight, and now I want to do a full blown rewrite, oops. There will also be another overarching storyline I'll be adding in myself. I hope you stick around!


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